9. 1620 Canal Marker

While designing the NYSE: Financial District Streetscapes+Security Project, Rogers Partners architects highlighted the history of the area while adding security for NYC pedestrians. The goal of the project, which was completed in partnership with the NYC Economic Development Corporation, the Department of City Planning and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, was to “enable a vibrant streetscape while providing cutting-edge security in one of New York’s densest urban conditions.”

Part of the project included highlighting the former route of a canal that ran through downtown Manhattan in 1620 by marking its path with an engraved-granite curb that runs along Broad Street.  The Heere Gracht, as the canal came to be named by Dutch settlers, flowed through New York when downtown Manhattan looked more like Amsterdam than the hub of modern finance that it is today. 17th century NYC stretched only from the southern tip of the island up to a defense wall that ran along, can you guess where? Wall Street! You can still see wooden block pavers embedded in the cobblestone streets that indicate the site of the former wall.